poll shows romney leads, now up four points between the likely voters, but a new gallup poll shows the president up by five. looking to capitalize on his momentum, today, romney tried to frame himself as a steady commander-in-chief, and in what his campaign feels is a major foreign policy speech, accusing president obama of weak leadership. >> i know that president obama hopes for a weaker middle east, but hope is not a strategy. >> reporter: and calling for a change of course, but offering few new policy details, romney argued that the middle east is a more dangerous place since the president took office, citing serious civil war. the potential of a nuclear iran, and last month's terrorist attack in libya, that left four americans, including the u.s. ambassador, dead. >> it is our responsibility, and the responsibility of the president to use his greatest power to shape history, not to lead from behind. >> reporter: the obama campaign was quick with a rebut all, they talked about specifics. >> now i'm a professor, he gave absolutely no specifics. >> reporter: in california today,

romney, and la lackluc kt e railroad president obama, there was new polling when they opened up against the president, the numbers show the race trending, tightening, trending towards romney, at least right now, we begin with peter alexander, traveling with the romney campaign. >> reporter: brian, good evening to you, a romney adviser tells me that the campaign is stronger, that the candidate is increasingly confident. he tried to draw a sharp contrast on the issue of national security. with just 29 days to go, following the last debate, the race is quickly tightening, but remains volatile. the polls had different results. the latest poll shows romney leads, now up four points between the likely voters, but a new gallup poll shows the president up by five. looking to capitalize on his momentum, today, romney tried to frame himself as a steady commander-in-chief, and in what his campaign feels is a major foreign policy speech, accusing president obama of weak leadership. >> i know that president obama hopes for a weaker middle east, but hope is not a strategy. >> reporter: and ca

romney and they like what they saw. i predict you'll see credible polls showing a significant move in the swing states and a closer race than what we've had. that's the big factor. >> we all sit in washington and get on the numbers. the average american goes outside and says, okay, 600,000 part-time jobs. 114,000 full-time jobs. gasoline the highest in history. do i feel better or in the real world, can my cousin still not find work. in the real world, is every small business in my neighborhood still stressed? i think the reason obama has never been able to pull away even when romney had two pretty bad weeks, is in the end there's this rubber band effect where they go well, i would almost like had to give him another shot, but this is really frightening and really painful. >> nobody is ever going to pull away in this political system. so that's never going to happen. we always know that. >> i disagree, i think they could, there was, there was a emmet moment of pull-away and the only thing that snaps it back is this feeling that things aren't -- >> the race was always going to be close

cancer survivors. >> reporter: the romney campaign hopes this is a sign of a trend, the polls surge showing that the trend is higher among women voters. on monday, he seemed to soften his position on abortion. >> there is no legislation on abortion that i'm familiar with that would become part of my agenda. >> reporter: the obama campaign jumped on the comment, writing, we know where he stands on a woman's right to choose, pointing to last comments made in 2007. >> so i would like to see roev wade, where people themselves have the ability to put in pro-life legislation. >> reporter: today in ohio, romney was pressed to clarify. >> i think i said time and again, i'm a pro life candidate and will be a pro life president. >> reporter: meanwhile, president obama talked about his lackluster performance. >> it is fair to say i was too polite. >> reporter: bill clinton mocked romney in las vegas monday. >> i had a different reaction to the first debate than a lot of people did. i mean, i thought wow. here is old moderate mitt. where you been, boy? i don't have that tax plan i had for the l

this very spirited fellow who claimed to be mitt romney. >> the economy is again the central focus. the new jobs numbers drop the unm employment rate below 9%. >> we have made too much progress. >> a sign of recovery as the voters head to the polls. we cover it all this morning. the policy fight emerging from the debate and the policy. what does the debate reveal about these two men? >>> plus, our preview of the vice presidential debate this coming week. this morning, a special panel. obama campaign senior adviser robert gibbs. former republican presidential candidate newt gingrich. hilary rosen. mike murphy. and nbc's chief white house correspondent and political director chuck todd. >>> and finally, what you haven't heard from arnold schwarzenegger this week. a revealing conversation with the former california governor. he talks politics and his personal failings. >> what would you like your sons to learn from your mistakes? >> i think that they're not going to make the same mistakes. >>> from nbc news in washington, "meet the press" with david gregory. >>> and good morning. one

and only debate. what do we expect from the obama/mitt romney rematch . the look at romney poll's surge. will the liar, liar strategy work? and congratulational hearing on libya shed new light on what happened in the attack on benghazi and raise new questions about the administration's response. welcome to the journal editorial report. i am paul gigot. all eyes were on the vice-presidential district attorney bait. the two spared over everything from iran and medicare reform and middle class taxes. >> the middle class got knocked on their heels and the great recession crushed them and they need help now. the last people who need help is 120,000 families for another 500 billion dollar tax cut over the next 10 years. >> there are not enough rich people and small businesses to tax to pay for the pending. next time you hear them say don't worry about. we'll get the wealthy people to pay their fair share watch out, the tax bill is coming to you. >> with us is dan, and collumist bill, and jason riley and washington columist kim strassel. >> he was doing what he was asked to do which is to ener

, good news for mitt romney, poll out of florida shows he has an edge over president obama. a cnn orc international poll says paul ryan came out on top last night. we will have more on that coming up. >>> candidates maybe vying for popularity points, but this guy doesn't need more popularity, big bird. romney mentioned the character, orders for costumes have been surging all over the country. the retail price is between 40- $100 for big bird suit. store owners expect prices to rise because of the great demand. >>> when you shop for pet food you see all sorts of eye catching claims to pick one product over another. what do all natural or ultra premium mean. how do you know what is best for your breast friends? brian kuebler brings the scoop to make sure you get what you are paying for. >> reporter: alaina tried ten different dog foods for her dog, happy, she researched ingredients, searched labels to finds one that didn't upset his stomach. >> it was frustrating trying to figure out what the claims were actually trying to say. >> reporter: when it comes to pet food, fda and usda regula

-election team. what really caught our eye here is about the gender cap. according to the poll, romney's wiped off the board any lead, brought it to a dead heat. do you think this is real? and i have to talk about my deceased irish catholic grandmother, because she used to say about pollsters, if they have the nerve to ask, you have the nerve to lie. but could they really have wiped away the gap that they had? >> you know, unclear. i mean, here's the thing. i've always contended that for romney, it wasn't just about having one good debate performance. he's got to show some consistency. he's had a few good days. i think the jobs numbers and the big bird gaffe, if you will, have given team obama a bit of an opportunity to, you know, to rebound and push back, but we'll see. i mean, these polls are a snapshot in time. they certainly suggest that romney, as we all said, had a great debate performance. people took a second look and said, all right, let me pay attention, let me see what i think about this guy. the question is, now that they're taking that second look, when they go to his website and

. >> isn't this a great campaign? ♪ everything's coming up romney ♪ the latest polls have romney neck and neck with obama. folks, this race is as tight as mitt's smile when he meets a poor person. oh no, not a migraine now. try this... bayer? this isn't just a headache. trust me, this is new bayer migraine. [ male announcer ] it's the power of aspirin plus more in a triple action formula to relieve your tough migraines. new bayer migraine formula. >>> it's the thursday ahead of the vp debate, and it's time to play of what is the romney/ryan position on abortion? it would be hilarious if there wasn't so much at stake. a day after mitt romney told the des moines register that he would not pursue any abortion-related legislation as president, he told reporters in ohio that he would, in fact, take direct aim at women's health care choices and access. >> i think i said time and again i'm a pro-life candidate, i'll be a pro-life president. the actions i'll take immediately are to remove funding for planned parenthood. >> for the president, it was a chance to cast doubt on his rival's new ha

did help romney, particularly under the likability poll. 8% say the same of the president. in the gw survey, 34 say they are more likely. 13% say that they are less likely. voters are seeing romney as more likeable. 62% of romney supporters say they are enthusiastic to vote. up ten points from before the debate. those numbers are held steady. still, the portland has some things going for him in both of these polls. his job approval is at 50% in both surveys. and more voters think the country is headed in the right direction. 42% in the post poll. the president and romney are neck-and-neck on who is better equipped to manage the economy. romney is 49/47 in the gw survey. both sort of paint the same picture. >>> all right. president obama is staying out of sight. they are focusing less on substance and more on style. joining me on behalf of the obama campaign, mr. mare, you are not shy. i've moderated a town hall with you, actually, during the convention. you weren't shy at all. what's your concern about the president? if you were giving the president advice, what would you be telli

week with post-debate poll numbers and the $5 trillion question no one on team romney will answer. >> i'm s.e. cupp. mitt romney's debate won him a place in the record books. >> i'm steve kornacki, and i have the honor of watching "snl's" newest star, s.e. cupp. is it more serious than funny? >> how lame is

. that is the new gallup daily tracking poll. it shows president obama and mitt romney now tied 47%. romney erasing the 5-point lead the president had before the debates. right now president obama is about to make modern history. the president is in california where he'll unveil a national monument in horne of cesar chavez who led the farm worker monument. it's the first national monument since the 1700s to horne the latino. the latino vote is heavily skewed towards the president, but the issue is enthusiasm. we know this visit today in california with this national monument is a big one for the president. as for governor romney, he took direct aim at president obama's handling of foreign policy during his speech at the military institute in virginia. it's the tenth foreign policy speech of romney's campaign. >> when we look at the middle east today, with iran closer than ever to nuclear weapons capability, with the conflict in syria threatening to destabilize the region, and with violent extremists on the march, and with an american ambassador and three others dead likely at the h

some polls the gender gap closeup when romney didn't talk about women at all and when they obsessed over it in the convention to me that was a sign that women like all other voters are really judging on the most important and central issue in this campaign, and that is the economy, when romney was more credible on that and gained with everyone including women. >> rose: chuck todd, will fact checkers tomorrow morning look at this and examine this and find out and suggest that somebody was either misleading or, quote, lying? >> i don't think there are any lies in there, my favorite part is when, you know, there is that one point where you have joe biden saying 97 percent of small businesses make $250,000 or less and paul ryan insisting 1 million businesses are affected by that and that is they are both rde but, right but want to use different numbers one wants to use raw data and the other percentage to make it look large and make themselves look right i want to point out on abortion, i thought what was amazing with that question about the catholic faith and martha raddatz put it is i

romney got. a brand new round of nbc news polls in ohio show the president was up by eight points, he is up by six. in florida the president has held steady. still up by one point in that key state. we know what florida means and in virginia where the president had a two point lead and he now leads by one. now to tonight's debate in danville. l look at the headline from lexington's kentucky herald. in vp debate, gop looks to boost momentum, dems want to steady the ship. advisors are saying biden and ryan will be aggressive tonight. here's the bp scoreboard going on. according to the latest pew poll, 40% of those surveyed believe congressman ryan will outdebade the vice president. only 34% believe biden will win this thing. ryan also has the upper hand when it comes to popularity. the congressman with a 44% favorable rating compared to the vice president's 51% unfavorable score. both have done a walk through of the room today and joining me now if you have a guy in your ring, i guess it is chris matthews, host of msnbc's hard ball. i pause for the applause. mark murray, nbc senior poe

gap. and president obama is flyi to florida after playing down romney's rise in the polls and his own poor debate performance. >> governor romney had a good night. i had a bad night. -- >> how bad in its not the first time i've had a bad night. >> and overseas, holding out hope for the school girl now being called an icon of pakistan. we'll get a live report on malala's condition. good day. i'm andrea mitchell live at center college in danville, kentucky. ahead of an -- here we've got a great crowd here already. already for tonight's crucial debate, the vice presidential debate in a presidential campaign that has a razor-thin edge. joining me now is chris cillizza, msnbc contributor and managing editor of post politics.com and chuck todd, nbc's chief white house correspondent, political director and host of "the daily rundown." >> abe lincoln behind you. >> let me go to chris cillizza first. >> sure. >> back in washington, talk about the stake as head. what are the two burdens, if you will for the two candidates tonight? >> well, look, i mean i think it is relatively obvious that

polls are right it would appear it was romney whose prayers were answered in the presidential debate this week. the polls have shifted since, with romney gaining ground and leading in some polls he was trailing a week ago. both were out this evening. gary nurenberg is here with both. >> reporter: they were both in the key swing state of ohio this evening and the numbers are different than a week ago, different than before the debate. the election is four weeks from today. >> four more weeks. four more weeks. >> reporter: mitt romney was upbeat in the tuesday evening rally in ohio and with good reason shall. since last week's debate and his widely perceived win, new polls have moved his way. he's 49 and obama 47 in the polls. in ohio, 48/47, romney. a new cnn poll has obama ahead. all those polls within the margin of error is close. romney's family reportedly won a fight with campaign handlers leading to a candidate telling more personal stories this week. tuesday night he spoke of inadvertently crashing a party and meeting a former navy seal. >> i just learned a few days ago that he

. now, of course, days later, we're hearing his excuses. >> but while the romney campaign body language has changed, both are anxiously awaiting the first good post debate polls. those will give us our first look at the race after the debate and the friday unemployment report. plus, where will romney be when the results of those polls begin to come in. will he be in coin flip races in places like ohio, iowa and wisconsin? where will the president's number be? still sitting at 49 or 50 or have fallen down to 47, 48? national tracks are one thing. battleground states are another. tuesday, romney stumps virginia, then ohio with chris christie in cuyahoga falls. in three straight rallies in florida, he recounted his memories of a 14-year-old boy, david, that he befriended with leukemia. >> i sat down next to him and he said what happens next? and i spoke with him about what i believe happens next. clear eyes, full heart, can't lose. david can't lose. i love the greatness of the soul of the american people. >> david's parents, members of romney's congregation, spoke at the conventio

last week's debate. the real clear politics average of all polls show mitt romney taking a .7% lead on president obama. the race was this tight a month ago. right after the republican national convention and right before the democratic national convention. we have been here before. the race has followed this pattern for awhile. when mitt romney makes gain, the polls tend to show the candidates tied. but if you listen to right-wingers like ann colter, this race is already over. >> i think it is over. the reason i think it's over, of course, i thought it was over last week and the week before. romney is going to win. the reason he's going to win is this was the most-watched debate since 1980 when ronald reagan ran against carter and there was only one debate that year. >> fox news is pulling out all the stops. check out the electoral prediction map fox trotted out today. look at the red states. they gave mitt romney solid democratic states like new mexico and pennsylvania. really? polls should be a snapshot of the current state of the race and there's no doubt mitt romney is benefitti

a closer look at in the romney's recent poll surge and the obama's campaign response. will the liar-liar strategy work. and congressional hearings in libya shed new light on what happened before, after and during the attack in benghazi and raises new questions put administration's response. welcome to the journal editorial report. all eyes were on kentucky thursday height when vice president joe biden and paul ryan squared off on everything from reform to eye ran to middle class taxes. >> the middle class got knocked on their heels, the great recession crushed them, they need some help now. the last people who need help are 120,000 families for another, another $500 billion tax cut over the next ten years. >> there aren't enough rich people in small businesses to tax to pay for all their spending. and so the next time you hear them say don't worry about it, we will get a few wealthy people to pay their fair share, watchout, middle class, the tax bill is coming to you. >> joining the panel this week, wall street journal columnist and deputy editor, dan, and jason riley. >> he did ene

polls. mitt romney has a t doug-point lead -- two-point lead in some of being more competitive states. is that 48% with at 47%.ney right behind there is some controversy by the son ofmade former governor of wisconsin. "it isernor jason said send president barack obama back to chicago or to kenya." he has apologized. thank you, rebecca. able to watch the debate tomorrow. coverage begins at 9:00. while you're watching, let us what you think about what the president and governor romney are saying. >> after the debate of course, to battleground virginia. but the president and his stops in the make old dominion. first, paul ryan will make a fredericksburg. then mitt romney will post- debate rally in leesburg. president obama will visit the area on friday, but the exact is not reveal. if you have not registered to vote, you are out of luck. in maryland, you have to register tomorrow. ofa trial over alleged abuse powers. shows prince george's county officers john mckenna. after marylande duke in a basketball came. game.aking -- basketball breaking news about the in montana. that were missing

the polls, pew, romney's performance erases obama leed. >> my good conservative friend was telling me about the sinister conspiracy of the polls. that they were all rigged, giving the impression that the liberals are running away with the election. and all the sudden you have conservatives hijacking the polls and you have dispirited and liberals. the liberals were dispirited. there was a sense of real puzzlement, where was the president? why did he not show up? these are people who have been picking out their inaugural outfits. the romney people, prior to that debate were heading for the lifeboats. they thought it was over and they were going to concentrate on holding on to the house and may be winning the senate. it was transformational in that sense. in the political world, however, has not changed how people feel about mitt romney. they still feel he is out of touch and that remains a problem, even for charles. >> the columnist, neocon, he said monday was the day political polling died. [laughter] what do you think? >> i dunno about what to john was saying. but my view last week --

out of 5 polls, mitt romney and paul ryan lead. have you big poll numbers in florida and virginia, showing people in just a second. abc and cbs admits the ticket is gaining ground, post debate. nbc, no, not much of an impact at ms-nbc. >> florida, ohio and virginia, battleground states. what we see on the screen, a tight, tight, dead heat in florida and in virginia. in ohio, you still see the president hanging on to a lead. i guess you could say that romney has the trend line, but ohio is still a problem. >> another factor in all three of these polls, over 90% said the debate made no difference. 6, 7 and 7% respectively who said the debates mattered to their vote. that is, not as helpful to romney as he might have hoped. >> the debate has not as much of an impact. >> sean: i was thinking that if joe biden loses and 25 day, i am thinking that nbc news -- it's a perfect place for an unhinged, over-the-top, extreme leftist. he would be perfect over there. >> chuck todd, the political director of nbc news labeled the rasmussen poll, quote/unquote flop. he got it wrong. what is flop is

. >>> there's your bounce, the pew poll propels mitt romney. >>> kentucky derby, all eyes turn to the bluegrass state. how much pressure faces paul ryan. and this morning, former penn state football coach jerry sandusky finds out if he'll spend the rest of his life in prison on 45 counts of child sex abuse, he already put out a taped statement denying it all. we'll have the latest from the courthouse as soon as it happens. it is happening within minutes there in pennsylvania. >>> good morning from washington, it's four weeks until election day, tuesday, october 10. will romney serve in national polling translate into gains where it really matters t battleground states, the mimpb battleground states of iowa, wisconsin and ohio. romney will not be president unless he can put these states in play. in a new pew poll conducted since wednesday. just last month in the same poll, romney trailed by eight points. driving romney surge, a spike in republican enthusiasm, more republicans made it through pew's likely voter screen than democrats. and a larger group of registered voters, the candidat